Michigan's gas tax will now be one of the highest in the nation

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(WJBK) - Drivers will dig deeper in their pockets to fill up their gas tanks in 2017. Starting on January 1, Michigan drivers will all pay 7 cents more per gallon - putting our gas tax as one of the highest in the nation.

Michigan will have the sixth-highest gas taxes in the country, up from 18th, according to an American Petroleum Institute analysis of rates in effect as of Nov. 1. Only Pennsylvania, Washington, Hawaii, New York and New Jersey will rank higher.

That is a title Michigan motorists could do without, and registration fees will be jumping 20 percent for all cars and trucks in the new year, too.

The gas tax currently sits at 19 cents per gallon while diesel is 15 cents per gallon. Starting January 1, 2017, gas taxes will increase 7.3 cents and diesel will go up 11.3 cents. This is the first increase in fuel tax in 20 years.

Your vehicle registration will increase for the first time since 1983. That's when the state started basing registration taxes on list price instead of vehicle weight.

Drivers whose birthdays fall before May 31, though, will get a break from the rising registration fees but they have to act fast and pay by Saturday.

The hikes were approved by state lawmakers in 2015 to help pay for a roads package. Gov. Rick Snyder signed it in to law later that year and said at the time that Michigan is making the largest investment in roads and bridges in more than a half-century.

The increases are expected to generate $450 million for construction and repairs to the state's crumbling highways, roads, and bridges.